Family and friends of Art Cooper, the former GQ editor who fell tragically ill at the Four Seasons on Thursday, say they'll be forever indebted to Dave Zinczenko. Zinczenko, editor of Men's Health magazine, was having lunch with Cooper when the 65-year-old suffered a stroke. "They'd never met before," a close friend of Cooper tells us. "Dave helped Art out and then went with him in the ambulance. He stayed by his side all day and was there when [Cooper's] wife arrived. But he still stayed, long into the night." Despite his lunch companion's best efforts, Cooper was reported to be gravely ill.

Cooper loved eating and drinking as much as he loved great magazine writing, and his favorite place to enjoy the former while talking about the latter was at Manhattan's Four Seasons restaurant. It was there that he suffered the stroke while lunching with David Zinczenko, editor of Men's Health.

"I cannot go to a gym without cringing, watching the idiotic, ineffective and downright dangerous exercise routines personal trainers put their clients through," Men's Health editor in chief David Zinczenko writes in his September issue. Zinczenko goes on to describe a friend, "65 years old and about that many pounds overweight," who showed up to lunch complaining that a workout had left him with a sore neck, and left in an ambulance, "felled by a massive stroke. Did the workout kill him? It's possible."

On the day several years back when Art Cooper died, he and Dave lunched at the Four Seasons. "I was telling him about Best Life, and I said, 'Is there anything you could do to help us?' There was no non-compete clause with Conde Nast, and Art said we ought to talk more. But he felt ill and went to the bar to lie down. Next thing, Julian (the co-owner) was calling an ambulance. It was a massive stroke."

(Mr. Zinczenko was having lunch with Art Cooper, the former GQ editor, at the Four Seasons in 2003 when Mr. Cooper suffered a stroke and died. It is a memory that Mr. Zinczenko recalls with tears in his eyes, explaining that it conjured memories of his father's death.)

Who's The Man? Dave [NYT]

Earlier: Gawker's coverage of Dave Zinczenko

"I cannot go to a gym without cringing, watching the idiotic, ineffective and downright dangerous exercise routines personal trainers put their clients through," Men's Health editor in chief David Zinczenko writes in his September issue. Zinczenko goes on to describe a friend, "65 years old and about that many pounds overweight," who showed up to lunch complaining that a workout had left him with a sore neck, and left in an ambulance, "felled by a massive stroke. Did the workout kill him? It's possible."

So, to recap: Exercise tips from a trained professional are likely to kill you. Exercise tips from people who've never met you published in a glossy magazine with a buff guy on the cover? Safe as can be.

Memo Pad [WWD]